Friday flowers - sweet pea colours

  Sugared almond pinks and lavenders and off-whites: 'Winston Churchill', 'Noel Sutton', 'White Ensign'.

Comments

[Vivienne]

Oh such pretty sweet peas, mine have been pathetic this year despite lots of rain, or maybe because of it, who knows?..they did flower, sporadically, but the greenery was decidedly mildewy....any tips for more success with them next year?

[Cornflower]

I'm no expert, Vivienne, but one tip I picked up the other day (can't remember the source) is that they do better ranged along an expanse of netting or canes rather than on wigwams as I have them. This is perhaps why a lot of mine have shorter stems than I'd like.
Touch wood, I have no mildew, but the slugs and snails are at them and the greenfly are out in force - I've been brushing them off and occasionally spraying with a washing up liquid solution. Of the three varieties shown here, White Ensign has produced the most flowers: 25% more than Winston Churchill, so far, and way more than Noel Sutton.

[Vivienne]

Thankyou for the response, mine are in wigwams too, so next year I will change that, suspect the 'weather' must have been the culprit regarding the mildew?? Interesting about the white ensign variety.

[Cornflower]

Yes, the endless rain!